Valtteri Bottas set fifth fastest with ultra-soft tyre, ahead of Ferrari’s Kimi Raikkonen. Fernando Alonso made an impressive start to his 300th grand prix weekend, he made seventh place for McLaren, just 0.598 seconds off the pace and on the same ultra-soft tyres as Mercedes were using.

Carlos Sainz was eighth fastest in the Renault after his teammate Nico Hulkenberg completed just three laps due to the breaks down;. Hulkenberg stopped on track on just his fourth lap and after struggling to restart his power unit had to abandon his car on the back straight, causing a red flag as the marshals moved his Renault from the racing line.

The second McLaren ace Stoffel Vandoorne was ninth fastest with hyper-soft compound, both McLarens benefitted from a tyre advantage, Pierre Gasly who showed the early potential of Honda’s latest power unit upgrade in the Toro Rosso with the tenth fastest time. Local hero Stroll clips Wall of Champions and set only 18th fastest.